Jimmy liked the idea of Sandrine being his lovely lady. “Sure!” he chirped.

But Sandrine emphatically set the record straight. “Oh, no! We’re not together!”

It was awkward for a moment. And they all heard the jukebox playing an old rock song about how someone was just what the singer of the song needed. And Jimmy realized that Sandrine was just what he needed and started to explain that he and Sandrine used to be together and were hopefully going to be together again someday soon, but Sandrine interrupted him again and urgently reiterated, “We’re not together.”

Then Jimmy tried to explain their unusual situation. “Well, we used to be—”

But Sandrine interrupted and made sure the waitress understood her: “We’re not together.”

“Okay,” said the waitress, puzzled. She looked at Jimmy. And then at Sandrine. And then back at Jimmy. And wondered if she should stay or go. And then decided to go, because it was pretty awkward. “Well, holler if you need anything,” she said as she left.

“We will, thanks,” called Sandrine.

The waitress stopped and turned to the unhappy couple, and said sternly, “No, really: You gotta holler. It’s busy up front. There’s a thing goin’ on up there, and we’re short-staffed, so—holler!”

“Okay, thanks,” said Sandrine, and the waitress was gone.

Sandrine turned back to Jimmy. And he was smiling a goofy smile. Because he was convinced that Sandrine really was just what he needed. And he was hoping that what Mrs. Roy had said was true—that he was a catch. Because he was hoping to get caught—and kept, this time—by Sandrine. But before he could get caught, he needed to make sure she wasn’t seeing anyone—so he could see if he should even bother trying to get caught. So he asked, “So, are you here with anybody, or…?”

“Um…” Sandrine looked down and then nodded toward the front of the Moose Paddy and said, “Just the girls.” She was telling the truth, but not really answering the question that she well knew Jimmy was asking. Because she just didn’t feel like it was the right time to tell the whole truth. Because she needed to apologize to him and explain why she had left him so unceremoniously before she told him anything else.

“Oh!” said Jimmy. He felt like he had just won the lottery, because if Sandrine was there with a bunch of her girlfriends—on a Friday night—well, then, she probably wasn’t dating anybody.

“Yeah. We’re, um—just … girls’ night out!” she chirped, feeling like she was lying even though she wasn’t, really.

“Oh! All right, then!” exclaimed Jimmy a little too enthusiastically.

“Yeah. We’re in the front,” said Sandrine, and then she decided to abandon any attempt to apologize and/or explain why she had left him. Because she wasn’t at the Moose Paddy to explain herself to Jimmy. She was there for a very different reason. So she got up and said, “And, you know, everyone’s going to be wondering where I am, so I should get back to them.” And she started to go, but Jimmy hopped up and almost aggressively blocked her path, preventing her from leaving. “Whoa, whoa, whoa!” he said. There was no way she was going anywhere. Not without an explanation or an apology.